Wall Street Journal lists La Sierra No. 1 in nation for diversity

 

A new top colleges ranking published Sept. 28 by The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education lists La Sierra University as the No. 1 school in the nation for the diversity of its campus.

La Sierra University was ranked as the most diverse university campus in the nation by the Wall Street Journal, due to its large percentage of Hispanic U.S. resident and international students.
La Sierra University was ranked as the most diverse university campus in the nation by the Wall Street Journal, due to its large percentage of Hispanic U.S. resident and international students.

La Sierra tops the ranking category titled ‘Top Schools for Environment’ which uses several measures to determine a school's inclusiveness such as the percentage of first-time college graduates and Pell Grant recipients, diversity of students and staff, and the percentage of international students. The report, drawing from most recently available federal enrollment data, cites La Sierra's high population of students who are Hispanic U.S. residents and who are foreign – 40 and 16 percent, respectively. 

‘Top Schools for Environment’ is among four areas the WSJ/THE created in its inaugural listing of top colleges which ranks more than 1,000 schools around the United States. The other three areas are outcomes, resources and engagement. Outcomes measures graduates’ salaries and debt burden; the resources category considers schools’ spending on instruction and academic services; engagement is mainly drawn from a survey of 100,000 students and focuses on teaching, and faculty and student interaction; environment assesses campus diversity.

Schools’ overall rankings are based on 15 key indicators that assess colleges in the four areas, the report states. The Wall Street Journal published the rankings of the top 499 schools, as well as the top several placements in the four categories.

The Wall Street Journal’s survey delves into students’ experiences with faculty, level of collaboration, extent of critical thinking and other matters, and is one of the factors that separates the WSJ/THE ranking from other lists, the report states.

“The ranking values schools that focus their spending on classroom instruction, and rewards both teaching and research excellence. It also places emphasis on student outcomes. It doesn’t consider how selective a school’s admissions are,” the report states.

Cuny City College of New York came in second behind La Sierra for campus diversity. Stanford University achieved the highest overall score in the nation, landing 92 out of a possible 100 points 

The full ranking can be accessed at WSJ.com/collegerankings.

La Sierra’s placement in the Wall Street Journal diversity ranking follows the university’s strong standing in the annual U.S. News and World Report 2017 Best Colleges guide published Sept. 13. The university tied for 50th place in the 15-state western region, seven placements higher than its listing in last year’s U.S News ranking. The university is also ranked 9th in the western region for best value based on academic quality and the net cost of attendance last school year for a student who received the average level of need-based financial aid.

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